As part of the “Make” team, farms were especially interesting because they are where the supply chain begins. They make the crop that other companies down the line use. Visiting the coffee, banana, and pineapple plantations, I learned that the processes to grow, or, make each crop contain a lot of checks and balances. Coffee…
Tag: Plus3 Costa Rica
Check out all the Plus3 Costa Rica blogs below!
Leaving Costa Rica A Wiser Man
A cup of coffee isn’t hard to get, I could easily go to a nearby Starbucks and grab a latte or purchase a bag at my nearest grocery store. However, the actual process of growing a coffee bean and delivering it to the United States is an entirely different and much more excruciating process. My…
Lessons Learned!
Throughout the past few weeks, I have had the opportunity to explore the sourcing step of the supply chain as it relates to the operations of coffee plantations. The sourcing step of the supply chain concerns how an entity sources its raw materials, labor, contracted, services, and research, as well as how the entity is…
¡Adios, Costa Rica! (A summary of supply chain planning)
The first step in any supply chain is source, and in the case of coffee supply chains, this represents the farms that grow the coffee beans. I’m terms of planning, the farms are responsible for things like figuring out the specifics of how the crops are managed. They decide how the crops are planted and…
¡Pura Vida, Costa Rica!
And just like that, Plus3 Costa Rica is complete! These two weeks flew by, but it also feels like forever ago that I was writing my first blog post. I learned so much through this experience and had a blast too! This course was all about supply chain and the area that I specifically focused on…
Heredia not, we’re going home :(
In looking at how delivery relates to the various phases of agricultural production and distribution in Central America, I’ve managed to have a greater level of respect for the delicious fruits and drinks that I consume on a regular basis. Starting all the way at the growing phase, we got to ask some great questions…
Service With A Smile.
Well, it’s official. The trip is over, but with every ending comes a new beginning. New friends, new foods, new places and new memories. All I’m extremely grateful for. This trip has taught me so much especially in terms of the supply chain, specifically service. During my adventures, I learned just how service is impacted…
Costa Rica Recap
The supply chain is a process vital to our way of life. The opportunity to analyze it in relation to coffee, bananas, and pineapples over the past two weeks was incredibly interesting. Each step along the supply chain relates to design, the topic that my group got to analyze this trip. Focusing on coffee, the…
How to Become a Tico in 2 Weeks
I simply can’t believe that the two weeks is finally coming to a close. The time flew by so fast, yet I feel like I’ve been here forever. I came into this program with the main goal of obviously learning about coffee and bananas and pineapple, however I also wanted to make new friends and…
Hasta La Vista Costa Rica
Farm The planning process is very important for farms, especially in terms of longevity. What stuck out to me about planning with farming is how your actions today could affect the productivity of you farm down the road. Don Guillermo explained how by integrating forest, organic fertilizers, and other sustainable aspects. He not only has…
The Final Stretch
These past two weeks we have explored various coffee, banana, and pineapple plantations where we got to learn about the supply chain process. My group’s focus was primarily on the design aspect so it was important for us to note the way the plantations approach marketing and design in terms of their farms and selling…
Final Days in Costa Rica
After my 2 weeks here in Costa Rica I have learned a plethora amount of information relating to the design process for each step of the supply chain process. Firstly, I will discuss my experience with the first step starting at the farm. At the farm one may not expect marketing to be a useful…
Final Blog: Service in Costa Rica
My team’s topic was service which deals with how companies can maintain returning customers and produce a product people actually want. Throughout our trip, we have taken many tours which showcase a different part of the coffee supply chain. This is what I’ve learned about each step in the chain as it relates to my…
From Panthers to Ticos
1. We learned a lot about different farming techniques and aspects from traveling to various plantations. Summing up the different approaches, we saw coop farming (Dota), family owned (banana) and large scale farming (pineapple farm, Doka). Co-op farming was unique in the sense that it was made up of 900 small farms and was, more…
El ultimo dia en Costa Rica
The coffee process has proven to be much more complicated that I initially realized. I began this trip believing that coffee and bananas should be an easy project when compared to damn gates or automobiles. While it is definitely more fun, the supply chains are just as complex if not more so. Taking just the…
A Tremendous Trip!
Over the past two weeks, I have learned a lot about the supply chain for coffee in Costa Rica. Moreover, I have learned how my group’s topic —make— relates to the different stages of the supply chain. These steps involve the farm, processing mill and exporters, coffee roasters and retail locations, as well as the…
Teamwork Makes The Dreamwork
Unity is a beautiful thing when it benefits those involved, especially in the cooperatives we talked about today. It’s clear that it is beneficial for farmers to join a cooperative like the Dota organization because it offers them more resources and supplies. It also provides a network of other farmers who can help you adapt…
Coffee Growing Cooperative
When talking about coffee growing companies, there is actually a potential alternative to just a single corporation, and that’s with cooperatives. That is, when a large group of individual coffee growers band together to form a sort of unified collective. The benefits of this is that there’s a certain safety net that each member has…
‘Brew’tiful Cooperation!
As we are nearing the end of our trip we had only one more business trip left. A unique farm that was very different from the rest of our visits. Dota, a coffee cooperative of multiple farms in the local area that had decided to work together in order to keep up with competition. This…
Discovering the perfect blend at Coppedota
At our final company visit today, we toured Coppedota Café Privilegios Santa Maria de Dota. We have toured many coffee plantations these past two weeks, however Dota differs from the rest as it is a cooperative. This means that it has many producers, specifically 900, that all contribute to the production and decisions of the…